Swazi activists in court on explosives charges

Swaziland on Tuesday opposed bail for two activists arrested in pro-democracy protests this month on charges of illegal possession of explosives, a court official said.

Maxwell Dlamini, president of the Swaziland students union, and Musa Ngubeni, a high-ranking member of the banned opposition People’s United Democratic Front (Pudemo), were arrested in a clampdown on anti-government demonstrations on April 13.

With the crackdown on media in Swaziland there have been few photographs making it out of the country. These images from the ground show the heavy police presence and efforts to crush the teachers and students protests.

“Maxwell admits being in possession of the bag in which explosives were found, but he denied knowledge of its contents,” added Sikelela Dlamini of the Swaziland Democracy Campaign.

Dlamini, who was one of the leaders of the April 12 protests against King Mswati III’s royalist regime, was also detained by police for several days.

If convicted, the two men face a fine as first offenders, according to their lawyer, Mandla Mkhzanazi.

Isolated acts of sabotage are occasionally linked to an underground armed struggle. Political parties are banned in the kingdom where the main opposition group, Pudemo operates clandestinely.

A string of high-profile bombings in 2008 included one on a bridge near the king’s palace, for which a South African man with links to the South African Communist Party is on trial in Swaziland.—Sapa-AFP